WOODPECKERS   -   PICIDAE

Bar-breasted Piculet Picumnus aurifrons wallacii Careiro da Varzea, Amazonas state, Brazil. Male. A distinctive race with spots on the lower underparts rather than streaks.		Black-dotted Piculet Picumnus nigropunctatus Caño Colorado, Monagas state, Venezuela. Female. This species is endemic to the Orinoco delta region of Venezuela. It is sometimes treated as conspecific with either Golden-spangled Piculet (P. exilis), which is similar in voice but not plumage, or with White-bellied Piculet (P. spilogaster), where the opposite is true. Also called Black-spotted Piculet.

Scaled Piculet Picumnus squamulatus rohli Cotumbo road, Aragua state, Venezuela. Male. As far as I know, every member of this genus can be sexed by the presence or absence of red or copper on the crown, though the amount and pattern varies.

White-bellied Piculet Picumnus spilogaster orinocensis Los Güires, Delta Amacuro state, Venezuela. Male. This is the race from eastern Venezuela and the Guianas. The nominate race is quite different and looks a lot more like Black-dotted Piculet.

Spotted Piculet Picumnus pygmaeus Lençois, Bahia state, Brazil Male. Endemic to NE Brazil, but with a much larger range than the next one.

White-barred Piculet Picumnus cirratus cirratus 10km north of Sumidouro, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Mobbing a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum).

Ochraceous Piculet Picumnus limae Batutité, Ceará state, Brazil. Female. A piculet with a tiny range in northeastern Brazil, endemic to the state of Ceará. It is usually found in the cooler and wetter mountain forests, but this one was in caatinga scrub about 60 km away from the mountains.

Yellow-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes flavifrons Hotel do Ypê, Itatiaia NP, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Male. One of the gaudiest of the neotropical woodpeckers. Like other Melanerpes, it is partly frugivorous and frequently visits fruit feeders.

Beautiful Woodpecker Melanerpes pulcher El Paujil reserve, Santander department, Colombia. Female. This species is endemic to central Colombia, though it is often lumped with the similar Golden-naped Woodpecker (M. chrysauchen) of Central America.

White-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes cactorum Caiman Lodge, Mato Grosso de Sul state, Brazil. Female. Found in dry forest and savanna of south-central South America.		Hoffmann's Woodpecker Melanerpes hoffmannii Monteverde, Puntarenas province, Costa Rica. Male.

Red-crowned Woodpecker Melanerpes rubricapillus rubricapillus Henri Pittier NP, Aragua state, Venezuela. Male.		Red-crowned Woodpecker Melanerpes rubricapillus rubricapillus Henri Pittier NP, Aragua state, Venezuela. Female.

Yellow-vented Woodpecker Veniliornis dignus dignus Tandayapa Valley, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male. Generally a rare bird on the west slope of the Andes in Ecuador, though Bob Planqué has told me that it is actually quite common at a little-known reserve called Santa Lucia only 10-20km north of Tandayapa.		Blood-colored Woodpecker Veniliornis sanguineus Georgetown Botanical Gardens, Guyana. Male. Endemic to the coastal lowlands of the Guianas.

Yellow-eared Woodpecker Veniliornis maculifrons Sumidouro, Rio de Janiero state, Brazil. Male. Endemic to the Atlantic Rainforest of southeastern Brazil.		Yellow-throated Woodpecker Piculus flavigula erythropis Folha Seca, São Paulo state, Brazil. Male. This one is from the isolated red-throated race, endemic to the Atlantic Rainforest of southeastern Brazil, possibly merits full species status.

Golden-olive Woodpecker Colaptes rubiginosus rubripileus Quebrada Limon, Lambayeque department, Peru. Female, without the red malar of the male.		Golden-olive Woodpecker Colaptes rubiginosus alleni Near Minca, Santa Marta mtns, Magdalena department, Colombia. Male.  An endemic race to the Santa Marta mountains.

Crimson-mantled Woodpecker Colaptes rivolii brevirostris Tandayapa Valley, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Female.

Spot-breasted Woodpecker Colaptes punctigula punctipectus 20km south of Calabozo, Guárico state, Venezuela. Female. This is the race occurring through most of Venezuela, with a greenish cast to the back.

Green-barred Woodpecker Colaptes melanochloros nattereri Pousada Piuval, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Female.		Green-barred (Golden-breasted) Woodpecker Colaptes melanochloros leucofrenatus Yavi, Jujuy province, Argentina. Male. Formerly treated as a distinct species, but the consensus these days is to lump them mainly due to evidence of interbreeding.

Campo Flicker Colaptes campestris campestris Pousada Piuval, Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Female. The nominate race, with a dark throat.

Waved Woodpecker Celeus undatus undatus Imitaca Forest (Rio Grande), Bolívar state, Venezuela. Female.		Scale-breasted Woodpecker Celeus grammicus verreauxii Sacha Lodge, Orellana province, Ecuador. Male. Photographed distantly from one of the canopy towers. This species' canopy-dwelling habits make it hard to get a decent shot of.

Blond-crested Woodpecker Celeus flavescens ochraceus Near São João dos Patos, Maranhão state, Brazil. Female. A horrid shot, but there's a story behind it. I was birding in an area that was near to the historical range of Celeus obrieni, at that time a lost species not recorded for 80 years. A brief glimpse and a few call notes had me chasing this bird for hours before finally nailing it down, only to find it was the widespread Blond-crested Woodpecker, just a different race than I had previously seen. C. obrieni was finally rediscovered 10 months later in October 2006, about 500 km southwest of here.		Cream-colored Woodpecker Celeus flavus flavus Sacha Lodge, Orellana province, Ecuador. Female peering out of a nest.

Ringed Woodpecker Celeus torquatus occidentalis Serra dos Carajás, Pará state, Brazil. Male. I was originally confused by the race information published in HBW, which implied that the nominate race (which this clearly isn't) would be in Pará. Rasmus Boegh helpfully set me straight on this: the nominate race only occurs in Pará north of the Amazon, with occidentalis occurring south of the Amazon. There is a recently described race pieteroyensi from E Pará and W Maranhao, but apparently it is not a widely accepted taxon, and it would be hard to separate from occidentalis. I haven't been able to get a copy of the article yet, as it is described in a rather obscure journal: Bol. Mus. Para. Emílio Goeldi, sér. Zool. 8(2) : 386.

Lineated Woodpecker Dryocopus lineatus lineatus Cabañas Copalinga, Zamora-Chinchipe province, Ecuador. Female.

Crimson-crested Woodpecker Campephilus melanoleucos malherbii Parque Metropolitano, Panama City, Panama. Male. This race, from Panama to N Colombia, has a darker bill and more cinnamon cast the underparts.		Crimson-crested Woodpecker Campephilus melanoleucos malherbii San Lorenzo ridge, Sierra de Santa Marta, Magdalena department, Colombia. Female. This was at a very high elevation of about 2200 meters.

Guayaquil Woodpecker Campephilus gayaquilensis Quebrada Limon, Lambayeque department, Peru. Female.

Cream-backed Woodpecker Campephilus leucopogon Palomitas, Salta province, Argentina. Female. A Chaco woodland specialist.		Cream-backed Woodpecker Campephilus leucopogon Palomitas, Salta province, Argentina. Male. The mate of the previous bird.

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